I just received news from my housemate, Athanasios (real name concealed for security reasons), that his mother, Joan, died today. Her health had been declining for the last several months but took an unexpected nosedive this afternoon. Joan was in her mid 80's, so she lived a good, long life. To my knowledge, she was not Orthodox.

May the memory of the handmaid of God, Joan, be eternal, and may God grant comfort to Athanasios, his siblings, and all those who will grieve Joan's departure from this life. (To my knowledge, her husband had already preceded her in death.)

As a result of a thousand million years of evolution, the universe is becoming conscious of itself, able to understand something of its past history and its possible future.-- Sir Julian Sorell Huxley FRS

"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."" Isaac Asimov